1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an adjustable animal collar, and more specifically to an adjustable animal collar which can be easily adjusted to fit an animal of almost any size, which is essentially continuous in construction, i.e., it will present no freely extending or dangling end portions when properly tightened around the neck of an animal, which is durable, and which is made of both common and readily available elements.
2. The Prior Art
An adjustable dog collar is known to the art which, when snuggly positioned around the neck of the dog, will present no freely extending or dangling ends which can become caught or entangled with other objects which the dog may come in contact with, and consequently cause possible injury or death to the animal. According to Herbert, U.S. Pat. No. 3,872,833, a dog collar can be formed of a single length of a flexible link chain which can be looped around the dog's neck, the chain having an eye ring connected to one end and an end ring connected to the opposite end. The collar also includes a fastener device which is pivotally connected to the noted end ring. The collar is constructed such that the chain, as it extends from its first end connection with the eye ring to its opposite end connection with the end ring and fastener, is looped around such that an intermediate point thereof it will pass (in a slidable fashion) through the noted eye ring (thus forming a loop which can be adjusted in size to correspond with the diameter of the animal's neck), and the remainder of the chain leading up to the fastener device is extended back such that the fastener device, which itself comprises an elongated body member from which two fingers extend in a direction generally transversely away therefrom, can attach to the chain, e.g., as shown in FIG. 2. A first finger of the fastener device is capable of extending through an opening in any one of the chain links (the individual chain links each including side arms and end arms which define a uniformly sized internal rectangular opening therein), and the first finger includes a transversely extending T-head at the tip end thereof which is of such size and shape as to be capable of fitting within the longitudinal dimension of the internal opening in any one chain link, but not within the transverse dimension, such that one the T-head is inserted through the internal opening of a particular link and then aligned to extend in the transverse direction of the opening, it will be retained therein by the link side arms. The second finger of the fastener device can then be inserted into the internal opening in the chain link next adjoining the chain link in which the first finger is positioned, i.e., by a rocking movement of the elongated body member. A leash can finally be attached to the collar via a snap fastener connection with the collar eye ring.
The chain link dog collar described in the Herbert patent, however, has certain disadvantages, not the least of which is that it is somewhat awkward to adjust, since once the chain has been opened up to pass over the dog's head and then tightened so as to wrap snuggly around the dog's neck, the elongated body member of the fastener must be twisted around to an almost traverse direction with respect to an imaginary plane formed by the chain so as to enable the T-head of the first finger to fit through the longitudinal dimension of the internal opening in the appropriate link, and also since the fastener body member must then be manually rocked so as to insert the second finger in an internal opening in an adjacent link. In addition, the collar's construction and noted mode of adjustment makes painful pinching of the fingers of the person making the adjustment quite probable, i.e., during the adjustment operation, due to pinching nips created between any two adjacent links which can freely pivot with respect to one another. Also, the dog collar of Herbert is so fabricated that the T-head portion of the first finger of the fastener is obviously subjected to a significant amount of stress at times when the dog strains against the action of the connected leash, and if this metallic T-head portion should become weakened and snap away from the first finger due to stress cracking or rust, the entire collar will be made useless. Also, due to the relatively large internal openings in each of the chain links, the possibility of snagging of the collar on external objects at any point along its length becomes more possible, e.g., when the dog rubs his head and neck against an external object, such that the desired safety feature of the Herbert collar may not be entirely realized. Finally, the fastener device used in the Herbert collar is an unusual element and is not readily available in commerce, thus making the collar therein necessarily more expensive to produce and less easily repaired.
It is thus an object of the present invention to provide an improved adjustable animal collar, such as a dog collar, which is essentially continuous in construction, which is reliable and durable, which will have less of a possibility of snagging on external objects, and thus safer for use around the neck of any type of farm or domestic animal, and which is made from common and readily available elements.